DIYers Get a Treat With Top 40 Arduino Projects

The Arduino board, with its "Made in Italy" tag, features a microcontroller that can be programmed for a number of projects using a custom programming language and development environment. It's useful for simple robotics and electronics projects that need a little more intelligence than you can get with a handful of resistors and capacitors from Radio Shack – which is why it has become an underground hit among true gadget enthusiasts.

Now Hack N Mod has scoured the web to find the top 40 Arduino projects. The list includes projects to make a robot that will avoid walls, a twittering plant, a miniature pocket piano, a Segway-like robot and an interactive gaming controller–all using Arduino. Wired magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson's make-your-own unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or spyplane gets the second spot on the list.

The list of the 40 projects comes with instructions on how to get started on each. Now there's no excuse to hang out in the garage and just drink beer on the weekends. Its time to get tinkering.